National League preview: Senior circuit boasts big guns

Credit: AP

RISING STAR: Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals will be in a season-long competition with the Atlanta Braves for the National League East title.

Even with interleague play, sometimes it’s easy to ignore the senior circuit around here, especially when the Red Sox can be so all-encompassing.

Considering the National League’s dominance in four of the past five World Series, not to mention a three-game winning streak in the All-Star Game, it demands attention. Here’s a quick tour of the divisions:

NL East

This will be a two-way battle staged between the Nationals and the Braves. The Nationals have so much talent and youth on their roster, it is incredible: starters Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Dan Haren and Jordan Zimmerman and players Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond and Adam LaRoche. As impressive as that is, the Braves are very close. The addition of the Upton brothers, B.J. and Justin, along with Jayson Heyward, make for three All-Stars. The pitching staff features young up-and-comers Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Julio Teheran, plus closer Craig Kimbrel. The Phillies still have star power, but age is not on their side. The Mets are not contenders and the Marlins, minus Giancarlo Stanton, are more of a Quadruple-A team.

NL Central

The Cardinals and Reds are easily the two best teams, with the Brewers having the potential to stir things up a bit. The Cardinals made few changes to their 2012 squad, which lost in the NLCS to the eventual-champion Giants. Adam Wainwright is an ace, Yadier Molina should be in the conversation of top catchers in the game, and they have Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran in the outfield, and Allen Craig at first base. That is a solid team. The Reds are a threat as well, with Aroldis Chapman as the closer, Joey Votto at first base and newbie Shin-Soo Choo in center field. And they have a deep rotation: Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake and Homer Bailey. The Brewers became a little more interesting when they signed Kyle Lohse. As long they do not lose Ryan Braun to any PED-related issues, they have enough talent to surprise some teams. The Pirates were three wins shy a season ago of their first .500 or better record since 1992. They may do it this season, but not by much. And the Cubs are still bad.

NL West

The Giants remain the best team in this division, with Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner atop their rotation, and Tim Lincecum poised, perhaps, to return to his glory. Their offense remains average, but last year they proved you can win a championship with an attack that gets hot at the right time. The Dodgers have poured plenty of dollars into their roster, so there should be some results there. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez provide a solid core, and who knows what kind of help Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford can provide. The Diamondbacks lost Justin Upton, but got Martin Prado, which does not make it a fair tradeoff, despite the fact that Prado is much better than people realize. Arizona has plenty of holes, but may be good enough to cause other teams trouble. The Padres and Rockies will spend much of the summer battling to stay out of the division cellar.